Chapter III. On the Difficulty in
Speaking: A Memorial1

Thy servant,
Fei, is by no means diffident of speaking. As to why he has to hesitate in
speaking: if his speeches are compliant and harmonious, magnificent and
orderly, he is then regarded as ostentatious and insincere; if his speeches are
sincere and courteous, straightforward and careful, he is then regarded as
awkward and unsystematic; if his speeches are widely cited and subtly composed,
frequently illustrated and continuously analogized, he is then regarded as
empty and unpractical; if his speeches summarize minute points and present
general ideas, being thus plain and concise, he is then regarded as simple and
not discerning; if his speeches are very personally observing and
well-versed in the inner nature of mankind, he
is then regarded as self-assuming and self-conceited; if his speeches are
erudite and profound, he is then regarded as boastful but useless; if his
speeches touch the details of house-keeping and estimate each item in terms of
numerals, he is then regarded as vulgar; if his speeches are too much concerned
with worldly affairs and not offensive in wording, he is then regarded as a
coward
2 and a flatterer; if his speeches are far from commonplace and
contrary
3 to human experience, he is then regarded as fantastic;
if his speeches are witty and eloquent and full
of rhetorical excellences, he is then regarded as flippant; if he discards all
literary forms of expression and speaks solely of the naked facts, he is then
regarded as rustic; and should he quote the Books of Poetry
and History from time to time and act on the teachings of the former
sages, he is then regarded as a book chantor.
4 These things explain the reason why thy servant, Fei,
is diffident in speaking and worried about speaking.

Therefore, weights and measures, however accurate,
are not always adopted; doctrines and principles, however perfect, are not
always practised. Should His Majesty disbelieve
the minister who speaks to the throne, the minister would be found guilty of a
blunder or condemned to death.

For example, Tzŭ-hsü
5 schemed well but was killed by the King of
Wu; Chung-ni
6 taught well but was detained
by the Ruler of K`uang; and Kuan I-wu
7 was really worthy but was
taken prisoner by the Ruler of Lu. Not that these three statesmen were not
worthy, but that the three rulers were not intelligent.

In remote antiquity, when T`ang
8 was the sanest and I Yin
9 the wisest of the age, though the wisest
attempted to persuade the sanest, yet he was not welcomed even after seventy
times of persuasion, till he had to handle pans and bowls and become a cook in
order thereby to approach him and become familiar with him. In consequence
T`ang came to know his worthiness and took him into service. Hence the saying:
"Though the wisest man wants to persuade the sanest man, he is not necessarily
welcomed upon his first arrival." Such was the case of I Yin's persuading
T`ang. Again the saying: "Though the wise man wants to persuade the fool, he is
not necessarily listened to." Such was the case of King Wên's
10 persuading Chow.
11

Thus, just as King Wên attempted to persuade Chow
and was put in jail,
12 Marquis Ih
13 was broiled; Marquis
Chiu's
14 corpse was dried; Pi-kan
15 had his
heart cut open; and Earl Mei's corpse was pickled.
16

Furthermore, I-wu was bound with chains. Ts`ao Ch`i
17 absconded to Ch`ên. Pai-li Tzŭ
18 begged on
his way to the capital of Ch`in. Fu Yüeh
19 was sold into slavery from place to place. Sun
Tzŭ 20 had his feet cut off in Wey. Wu
Ch`i 21 wiped off his tears at Dike Gate, lamented
over the impending cession of the Western River Districts to Ch`in, and was
dismembered in Ch`u. Kung-shu Tso
22 spoke of a man fit to be a pillar of the state but was
regarded as unreasonable, so that Kung-sun Yang
23 absconded to Ch`in. Kuan Lung-p`êng
24 was executed. Ch`ang
Hung
25 had his intestines chopped into pieces. Yin Tzŭ
26 was thrown into a trap among brambles. The Minister of War,
Tzŭ-ch`i,
27 was killed and his corpse was floated on the Yang-TzŭRiver.
T`ien Ming
28 was stoned
29 to death. Mi Tzŭ-chien
30
and Hsi-mên Pao
31 quarrelled with nobody but were killed. Tung An-yü
32 was killed and his corpse was exposed in the market-place. Tsai Yü
33
had to suffer the disaster caused by T`ien Ch`ang.
34 Fan Chü
35 had his ribs broken in
Wey.

These tens of men
36 were all benevolent,
worthy, loyal, and upright persons in the world and followers of the right way
and true path of life. Unfortunately they met such unreasonable, violent,
stupid, and crooked masters, and lost their lives in the long run.

Then, why could these worthies and sages escape
death penalties and evade disgrace? It was because of the difficulty
in persuading fools. Hence every gentleman
37 has to remain
diffident of speaking. Even the best speech displeases the ear and upsets the
heart, and can be appreciated only by worthy and sage rulers. May Your Majesty
therefore ponder over this memorial of thy servant!